Pauletta Pearson Washington and Roscoe Orman Lead Cast in Revival of Lorey Hayes�' POWER PLAY, Free Staged Reading, 10/18

After last year's overwhelmingly successful New York showcase production of Lorey Hayes' thrice AUDELCO nominated Massinissa and the Tragedy of the House of Thunder, dynamic producing duo Executive Producer, Mr. Voza Rivers' New Heritage Theater and Ms. Debra Ann Byrd's Take Wing and Soar will team up to bring Pauletta Pearson Washington and Roscoe Orman to the New York stage for a revival production of Lorey Hayes' POWER PLAY, a story about politics, passion and the power of God.

The production kicks off with a 2012 Free Stage Reading as a prelude to its 2013 Production.

The Free Stage Reading is scheduled for Thursday, October 18, 2012, at 7pm, at New York's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in New York (at 135th Street), prepping audiences for the April 2013 Production with producing partner the City College of New York. Call 212 926 2550 to R.S.V.P.

Joining Washington and Orman in the cast is Phyllis Yvonne Stickney along with original cast member Lia Chang, playwright Lorey Hayes and Jeff Wallner. The play is directed by Darlene Gidney of Be Rich Entertainment, with Publicity by Dr. Sandy Hill.

Senator Franklin Wright is living the American Dream. Propelled to political stardom by a campaign manager who is Asian American and female, he stands on the threshold of making history: becoming California's first African-American Governor. Or does he?

It is a question Franklin must answer when, as campaign front runner, he finds himself thrust in the midst of a scandal that threatens to ruin the election, his career, his marriage and forces him to make a life and death decision.

The chilling fact is: the scandal is based on a secret his wife has harbored for 17 years. POWER PLAY is about the women behind this powerful man who find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of personal and political intrigue that threatens to destroy them all.

The play examines friendship, love integrity, public scrutiny and the question we still face today: What are we voting for? A candidate's private life or the record of his or her accomplishments and the depths of his or her commitment?

With Presidential elections looming, the producers felt it was a great time to take a fresh look at POWER PLAY, a play about a candidate's dilemma and unselfish decision that helps us examine the criteria by which we choose and elect our officials. "How will confession play with swing voters? How important is winning?" Will informed voters allow character assassinations to inform their decisions?

POWER PLAY received critical acclaim in its 1996 National Black Theater Production, directed by the late Dr. Barbara Ann Teer and Adunni, winning the Audelco Award for Best Play and again for its 2005 Billie Holiday Theater Production with an extended run directed by Artistic Director Marjorie Moon, earning Lincoln Center Library's honor of inclusion in their prestigious Bound Edition of "Highlights from the 2005 New York Theater Season".

Pauletta Pearson Washington - After a hiatus from the stage to raise her four children, Pauletta Pearson Washington has re-emerged to continue her acting career, most recently performing in the Off-Broadway production of Nora and Delia Ephron's, Love, Loss and What I Wore. Over the years, Washington has worked with some of theater's biggest names such a Jules Styne, Jerry Herman, Phyllis Newman, Betty Comden, Tommy Tune, Carole Hall and Adolf Green. She was part of the original cast of Jerry's Girls. Other stage credits include roles in the second Broadway Production of Jesus Christ Superstar, Sophisticated Ladies, and The All Nite Strut. She has created roles at several major off-Broadway houses, has appeared in Debbie Allen's Soul Possessed at the Kennedy Center, co-starred with BeBe Winans in Otis Sallid's Spirituals, and was featured with Natalie Cole in the recent production of A Christmas Show at Lincoln Center. Washington has also shared the stage with Amy Grant, Michael McDonald, Shelia E, Chaka Khan and the late, great Teen Marie.